5 Tips for Stress-Free Kids’ Birthday...

5 Tips for Stress-Free Kids’ Birthday Parties

We recently threw a birthday party for Ella at Chuck E. Cheese’s, and it changed my perspective on parties forever! Start to finish, every aspect of the celebration was handled for us, so I didn’t have to worry about whether some detail was taken care of, and I definitely didn’t have to worry about whether she would have a great time! Whichever way you throw your next party, here are 5 tips for stress-free kids’ birthdays:

Photo: Wini Lao

1. Go digital

Using e-invites is cost-effective, eco-friendly, and simple. Why spend time writing out old fashioned invitations and then worrying about getting them into the guests’ hands on time? Typically, you can count on guests to actually RSVP to e-invites versus traditional invitations. Chuck E. Cheese’s offers digital invitations that can be customized with your child’s photo and other fun features. I also love that they gave me the option to send them out via either email or text message. People respond so much more quickly by text these days!

2. Let the kids entertain themselves

Instead of games, choose activities for the party that allow the kids to have unstructured fun. You don’t need to be the activities director! For a summertime party, set up a slip and slide or sprinkler. Any other time of the year, create stations for the kids to visit on their own throughout the party. And always put on some music for instant entertainment!

Photo: Wini Lao

By far the easiest way to make sure the kids have a great time is to let them run free in a game-filled space like Chuck E. Cheese’s, where they’ll be safe without constant supervision. (For peace of mind, Chuck E. Cheese’s Kid Check process ensures guests who arrive together, leave together.)

Photo: Wini Lao

3. Call in reinforcements

Know someone who makes cakes? Have a friend who plays the guitar and would be willing to play covers of kids’ songs? How about a face-painter (or someone who could pass as one?) Can you hand your camera over to your best friend and assign her the role of official party photographer? Go through your friends’ list to see if you know anyone who would be willing to help out. If they do it for free, even better!

Photo: Wini Lao

But even if you end up paying for it, it’s one less thing you have to figure out for yourself. Done-for-you is better than trying to do-it-yourself to Pinterest-worthy perfection. At Chuck E. Cheese’s, every party has a dedicated host who is there to handle every detail: from order to clean-up. So you can sit back and actually enjoy the event.

Photo: Wini Lao

4. Skip the clean-up

Speaking of clean-up, one of the biggest things we all dread about hosting a bunch of kids is having to clean up the mess afterward, when everyone is tired. Even if you don’t usually use a housekeeper, hire one to come after the party. Or have the party somewhere that will handle the clean-up for you, which leads me to my final tip…

Photo: Wini Lao

5. Let someone else handle it altogether

Chuck E. Cheese’s has everything you need to make your child feel special on her big day, with practically no effort on your part. Just reserve a party date, choose a Chuck E. Cheese’s birthday package, invite guests, and show up! You can customize everything from what type of balloons you want to which foods and drinks you’d prefer. It’s all so easy that I wonder why I ever bothered with any other type of kids’ party!

Photo: Wini Lao

We opted for the Mega Super Star Package, which included All You Can Play games for each child in our party. The kids enjoyed free reign of Chuck E. Cheese’s for two hours to play all the games, as many times as they wanted. Not only was this great value, it made it really easy to wrap things up. When the time on their All You Can Play passes ran out, the party was done. Easy!

Photo: Wini Lao

Ella also loved getting a chance to step into the Ticket Blaster, where she had 30 seconds to catch as many tickets as she could. She even had a chance to win the Magic Ticket, which is worth 500 tickets! Imagine all the fun prizes you could get with that!

Photo: Wini Lao

Your child isn’t going to remember how much money you spent on her party or how many hours you worked on painstakingly handcrafting some aspect of it. She will, however, remember whether you were cranky and stressed-out, and most importantly, she’ll remember whether it was actually fun or not! Make the invites digital, let the kids have fun on their own, ask for help, ditch the clean-up, and when you come to your senses… hand the entire process over the Chuck E. Cheese’s so you can spend your time enjoying the party!

Photo: Wini Lao

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Chuck E. Cheese’s. The opinions and text are all mine.

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About Carmen Sognonvi

Carmen Sognonvi is a luxury family travel and lifestyle digital influencer at Top Flight Family. Her insights on travel have been featured in Wanderlust Travel Magazine, TravelPulse, HOTELS Magazine, Seatrade Cruise News and more. Carmen firmly believes that you can (and should) travel with your kids from a young age. She offers families practical solutions for travel, as well as tips on how to travel in luxury for less. She lives in New York City with her multiracial and multicultural family of four. Follow her on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

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